In November 2023, Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School welcomed a teacher new to SPF, Mr. Matthew Perotti, to substitute for Ms. Cramond as her maternity leave replacement. He teaches several sections of the AP Psychology course, which was first introduced to SPFHS at the start of this school year.
Perotti has been teaching for 35 years, and throughout his career, he has gotten experience teaching in different school districts. Scotch Plains-Fanwood is Perotti’s eighth school thus far.
Before coming to SPF, Perotti was teaching AP Psychology for two months at Mount Saint Mary Academy as a maternity leave replacement. He is just starting his fifth month here at SPFHS.
Before Perotti taught AP Psychology, he taught religion and philosophy. Psychology is more of the opposite to what he used to teach, so it is a whole new territory for him.
“I think the one thing that I found on the first day was how kind and cooperative the faculty [at SPF] was,” Perotti said.
Perotti has had many experiences that have shaped him into the person he is today. When he was 24 years old, he wanted to go to graduate school to be a diplomat, but it didn’t work out. Instead, he took a year off and rode a bicycle through the Middle East. He then traveled through Asia and walked through Africa for four months. He came home and was amazed by what he found.
“I think you’ll learn more traveling around the world in three or six months than you will in four years of college,” Perotti said. “You find out a lot about yourself, too.”
A fun fact about Perotti is that he has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the tallest mountain on the continent of Africa. He has also traveled to approximately 50 countries in his lifetime.
He learned a lot of life lessons when he was traveling, and was able to gain perspective on how we live in America compared to how people in other countries live.
“I think the purpose is not to gain things. And that’s kind of what we do here [in America]…the more things you have, the more successful you are,” Perotti said.
Perotti doesn’t believe that materialistic things bring happiness to people. Rather, it is the experiences and people around us that bring us happiness. His most memorable experience here has been meeting the students in the AP Psychology classes.
“It’s the people here that make it special,” Perotti said.
Following his travels, Perotti chose teaching as a career to further connect with others, all while settling down to raise a family.
“I find teaching to be one of the most rewarding experiences,” Perotti said. “I think the real thing about teaching and what I like so much is that you meet so many wonderful people…I come to work early because I like being here.”
